Briar Cliff students use spring break as time to serve others in Mississippi

By Melissa Kokenge, Globe staff reporter
March 9, 2006

Briar Cliff University students packed their bags and traveled down to Mississippi for a mission trip Feb. 17 to Feb. 24. There were eight students that attended along with Sister Janet May.

When the students first arrived they were still unsure of where they would be going to do their service work since most of the hotels were being used for Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

"There is no place to stay and no rooms in the inns anywhere near the coast. Many survivors were put up in hotels that are now kicking them out because of the money promised to them from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not going through. It was bad enough they needed our help as far on as Jackson," said Michael Tschampl, senior at Briar Cliff.

Originally the students wanted to go to Morton but with Hurricane Katrina they were needed elsewhere. This forced the students to stay in Jackson, Miss. and Catholic Charities put the Briar Cliff students to work in many different ways. One of the things the students did was help with aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"One of the great needs is mental health needs. There are so many people who are depressed and near suicidal because they have lost everything, and really the government has been very slow in helping them get any housing. As a result, they are very depressed," said Sister Janet May, director of campus ministry.

Catholic Charities had received a grant to hire four more counselors or caseworkers in addition to the ones they had to help with the overwhelming mental health needs. The students helped out by setting up office space and office furniture for the new people who were coming in.

"We found that the government response to Hurricane Katrina was slow and very lacking. These people lost everything and many would loose their peace of mind also," said Tschampl. "The good that has come out of it is that Catholic Charities of the Jackson Diocese was able to set up a permanent social help program that has long been needed in the area."

In the afternoon the students went to a huge warehouse that had been an old grocery store. The students sorted through cloths, separating them into age appropriate categories. They also sorted through household items and food supplies putting them on the shelves for evacuees to actually shop for.

"Working in Jackson on Hurricane stuff really made me realize that things are still really bad down there. In Iowa we don't hear much bout Hurricane Katrina, therefore we assume that everything down there is ok, when in reality it's not," said Destiny Miller, freshman at Briar Cliff.

The students then moved on to Morton, Miss. where they helped out the Sisters of Saint Francis of Dubuque. The sister ran a program called Excel which was an after school tutoring program for elementary school students.

"The students were willing to learn and were excited to see us everyday so that made the experience 10 times better," said Miller.

The Briar Cliff students were also involved in another tutoring program in the high schools after-school in town.

"That was a really wonderful because the students were able to build relationships with the students," said Sister Janet.

The students also spent two mornings at a daycare for the elderly, while one Briar Cliff student ventured with a Hospice nurse into the rural area. The students also helped out with meals on wheels and went into a church to clean its carpets.

The students were faced with many difficult realizations while on this mission trip. Speakers were brought in to talk to the BCU students about immigrants who live in Morton, Miss. and how they are being treated in their working environments with low paying jobs, long working hours and harsh working conditions.

"We talked to a couple who came from Mexico illegally and their stories are far from what I thought was going on. They left their families to make money to send back to them. They don't want to stay here, they miss their country and families," said Laura Cameron, a junior at Briar Cliff.

Overall the trip was great experience for the Briar Cliff students.

"The trip was a wonderful opportunity to give to others. In a way it really gave me a peace of mind, and I was able to share that peace with others down there," said Tschampl.